About Us

Introduction

“My Voice, My Choice” will create a Youth Information, Training, and Resource Center (Center) to infuse youth self-advocacy into existing adult self-advocacy activities in Hawai‘i and the region. Creation of this Center will be a collaborative effort involving the State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD), the Hawai‘i Disability Rights Center (HDRC), the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawai‘i (CDS-UH), and the Self-Advocacy Advisory Council (SAAC). The Center will respond to the following areas of emphasis: education, employment, and quality assurance (self-advocacy). The purpose to the Center is to improve education and employment outcomes for youth by giving them a greater voice in the development of policies and services that affect their choices.

Approach

The grant has the following goals and objectives:

Goal 1. Develop a cadre of youth and emerging youth to serve as effective self-advocacy leaders in Hawai‘i and the region

• Establish a Youth Council to oversee the implementation of the grant
• Employ a full-time youth coordinator to coordinate activities statewide
• Identify a part-time youth coordinator in each county of the state
• Provide training, mentoring, and support to these youth coordinators
• Provide annual opportunities for youth and emerging youth leaders to participate in regional and national leadership opportunities

Goal 2. Provide information and training on post-secondary education and employment

• Recruit, train, support, and mentor for youth who are SSI recipients to provide community based training to youth
• Acquaint youth coordinators with the available resources on employment and education
• Assist each Youth Council member, youth coordinator, and youth trainer to develop a Personal Career Plan (PCP)

Goal 3. Support emerging self-advocacy efforts in the state with infusion of a youth component

• Collaborate to develop a unified, holistic self-advocacy team
• Support the Self-Advocacy Advisory Committee
• Create and monitor the “Ask an Advocate” Web site
• Initiate advocacy for sustainability in Years 2 and 3

Evaluation

Each objective will be accomplished through activities with quantitative, measurable outcomes. The evaluation methodology will detail the criteria to be used to evaluate results and explain the methodology used to determine if the needs identified are being met and if the project results and benefits are being achieved.

Management

The project oversight will be a Management Team consisting of the Executive Administrator of the SCDD, the President of the HDRC, the Associate Director of the CDS-UH, and the President of the SAAC. Jean Johnson will serve as the Principal Investigator for the Grant. The CDS-UH will provide the administrative and fiscal support for the grant. The SCDD will provide the housing for the Center and the HDRC will provide the required local match by employing four youth trainers to work with the project.